Booking Confirmation Payment & Refund Policy

Request A Whippy is a platform that connects customers with independent ice cream van vendors. Request A Whippy does not prepare, sell, store, or supply food. Food and drink are supplied directly by independent vendors.

What the £50 Booking Confirmation Payment is (and isn't)

The £50 Booking Confirmation Payment is paid to Request A Whippy for the platform service of matching your request with available independent vendors, notifying vendors, securing an accepting vendor, releasing vendor details after acceptance, administration, payment processing and cancellation handling. It does not reduce, replace or count towards any price, pitch fee, sales percentage, event fee, service charge, food order or arrangement agreed directly between the customer and the independent vendor.

Any pitch fee, revenue percentage, minimum spend, van attendance fee, menu price or service arrangement is agreed directly between the customer and the independent vendor.

1. When the Booking Confirmation Payment is paid

For event bookings, customers are not charged anything upfront when submitting a request. The £50 Booking Confirmation Payment is only requested after an independent vendor accepts your event request.

2. When a booking is confirmed

A booking is not confirmed until the £50 Booking Confirmation Payment succeeds via our payment provider (Stripe). Until then the booking remains in a "Booking Confirmation Payment required" state and the vendor is not obliged to attend.

3. Customer cancellation after a vendor has accepted

Once a vendor has accepted and you have paid the £50 Booking Confirmation Payment, the fee is non-refundable, because the platform connection service (matching, notifying and securing the vendor) has already been delivered. The accepting vendor's 10 credits are refunded back to them automatically.

4. Admin-reviewed refunds

All refund requests are reviewed by the Request A Whippy admin team. We may issue a full or partial refund at our discretion based on the circumstances (for example, exceptional events outside your control, weather, venue or platform issues).

5. Vendor cancellation

If the accepted vendor cancels the booking, admin reviews the reason. If no replacement vendor can be found, the customer is normally refunded the £50 Booking Confirmation Payment in full. Vendor credits may be refunded or kept as a penalty depending on the cancellation reason. The platform may also take action against the vendor under our Vendor Terms.

6. No vendor accepts within 7 days

If no vendor accepts your event request within 7 days, the request automatically expires. Because the Booking Confirmation Payment is only taken after vendor acceptance, no fee should normally have been captured in this case and there is nothing to refund.

7. System errors

If, due to a system error, a Booking Confirmation Payment is captured for a booking where no vendor ever accepted, the case is automatically flagged to our admin team and the fee will be reviewed and refunded.

8. Partial refunds

Partial refunds may be issued at admin discretion — for example where a vendor attended but the service was materially incomplete.

9. Bypassing the platform

Customers and vendors must not use Request A Whippy to make contact and then move the booking outside the platform to avoid the Booking Confirmation Payment, vendor credits or booking rules. Accounts may be restricted, suspended or removed where we believe the platform has been bypassed.

10. How refunds are paid

Approved refunds are issued back to the original payment method via Stripe. Stripe and your bank or card issuer's processing times apply — typically 5–10 business days, but this can vary.

11. Food, allergens and quality

Because food and drink are supplied directly by independent vendors, complaints about food quality, allergens or service should also be raised with the vendor directly. See our Allergen & Food Safety Notice.

12. Contact

To request a refund review, email hello@requestawhippy.online with your booking reference, or use our Contact / Support page.